MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – Netherlands’ Cody Gakpo scored his third goal of the European Championship and Donyell Malen added two more late on as the Dutch burst back into form with a lively display to defeat Romania 3-0 in their last-16 fixture on Tuesday.
They had been lambasted by their media and fans for a poor defensive display in their final group game, a 3-2 loss to Austria, but were more composed and in control as they reach the Euro quarter-finals for the first time since 2008.
They took the lead after 20 minutes when Gakpo drilled a low angled shot home at goalkeeper Florin Nita’s near post before Malan’s late double helped set up a quarter-final with Austria or Turkey, who play later on Tuesday, in Berlin on Saturday.
The Netherlands had two thirds of possession and almost five times more chances in the game to underline their superiority as Virgil van Dijk struck the post with a header and Gakpo had a second effort ruled out for offside.
(This story has been refiled to correct the day of Austria vs Turkey match to Tuesday, not Friday, in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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